The proper emotional state is hard to achieve, though. Your initial visit to an oncologist's office can be a very trying experience. Fear and anxiety about cancer, no matter how controllable or curable it might be, often limit the effectiveness of the visit. And the diagnosis, once made, often makes you unable to concentrate on the information being given. Faced with a serious, life-threatening illness, it is often difficult to express feelings, ask questions or assimilate all the new information.
When you are under such emotional stress you often cannot think clearly. In our experience, one woman—a medical social worker—walked out of the office and her sister asked, "What did the doctor say?" She said, "I forgot." She hadn't even made it to the reception area.
Sharing the Information For this reason, many doctors encourage family members or close friends to come to the consultation. For this reason too, some doctors record the initial consultation and dictate the letter to the referring physician in front of the patient during the office visit. A separate tape to "translate" the technical letter and to explain the disease, treatment and side effects, along with pertinent questions and answers, can also be very helpful. In a study at Minnesota's renowned Mayo Clinic, it was found that patients had to listen to a taped explanation at least three times before understanding the whole message.
If your doctor tapes your initial consultation, you will find it very beneficial to take the tape home, listen to it as often as you need to, review it with your family and friends in a calm, relaxed atmosphere or even send copies to family members in other cities who wish to be informed.
